Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Alex…” the woman admonished, eyes wide.
“I… I’m so sorry.” The entire scene had my brain shutting down. Alex had a mother with a severe disability. Was he her caregiver in addition to attending school, working, and managing an out-of-control brother?
How did he do it? How did I not know?
“Get the hell out,” he shouted again, making me jerk as though he’d hit me instead of merely yelling. The hatred in his voice jolted through me like a lightning strike.
“Sorry,” I said again. “You… your phone.” I held it up, then glanced around for somewhere to leave it. There wasn’t any place by the door, so I set it on the floor before me. “I’m sorry.”
Then I turned and fled the house back to my fancy car, where I drove to my luxury apartment, replaying the loathing in Alex’s gaze and the murder in his voice while recalling how many times I called him a freeloader.
No wonder he hated me.
So much for whatever fledgling connection we’d formed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ALEX
Shit.
My hands trembled as I stared at the door Ryder yanked shut behind him.
Cold sweat dripped down my spine, raising a trail of goose bumps in its wake.
Shit.
I squeezed my eyes shut as I blew out an unsteady breath.
It didn’t help.
“Alex…”
I turned back to my mom, fighting to keep my face impassive, but one look at her disapproving frown, and time turned back to when I was ten and in trouble for throwing ice-packed snowballs at my neighbor’s car.
“Alex…” she said again as I crouched down to redress the wound on her foot. This time, her voice held a disapproving bite I hadn’t heard directed my way in ages.
“I know. I was a dick.”
“I’m not sure who that boy was, but he helped you out at two in the morning.”
I’d have chuckled at how she called Ryder a boy if I had an ounce of humor lurking in me tonight.
“That’s a good friend, honey.”
Friend. Is that what we were? Probably not after the way I screamed at him for daring to return my phone. The disappointment in my mom’s gaze was nothing compared to my internal flagellation.
“I’ll apologize to him at work tomorrow.”
I avoided looking up at her while I placed the gauze beneath her toes, then wrapped it the way her surgeon had demonstrated. As detrimental as her neuropathy was, in times like these, I was grateful she couldn’t feel a normal sensation in her foot. At least these twice-weekly dressing changes didn’t cause her pain.
“Care to tell me why you reacted that way?”
“No.”
Her silence hit harder than if she told me I was being a brat.
“It’s nothing.” I sighed. “Personal stuff. We have a bit of a complicated friendship.”
There was that word again.
“Are you ashamed of me? For your friend to meet me? You never bring anyone around.”
“What?” I jerked my head up, meeting her sad gaze. “No. Of course not. You’ve met Trevor.”
She pressed her lips together as she nodded. “Yes, but he is the only friend we’ve met in years.”
“I’m not ashamed.”
Was I? I’d always considered myself protective, but who was I protecting, my mother or myself?
She patted my hand in a way that told me she didn’t believe me but didn’t harbor any resentment. “Good night, honey. Thank you for helping out your brother. Now you go and try to get some sleep.” She cast a worried look Kenny’s way.
“He’ll be okay. He’s on his side in case he vomits. Now he needs to sleep it off.” Her forehead wrinkled as she stared at him. “He’s going to feel awful in the morning.” Moisture glistened in her eyes, threatening to spill over her cheeks.
I snorted. “Good.”
“Alex…” She sighed out a heavy, weight-of-the-world breath. Then she shook her head and squeezed my hand. “You’re a good son and a good brother.”
“Do you need help getting into bed?” I asked as she turned her wheelchair and started down the hallway.
“No. I can manage tonight. I’ve had a lot of nervous energy since you got home with Kenny.”
She’d been dozing in her chair when I burst through the door with my unconscious brother over my shoulder. Of course, she hadn’t been asleep in bed. Nothing had gone my way tonight, so why wouldn’t she be present to witness Kenny’s state while passed out and bloody? Her tears broke my heart and fanned the flames of fury at Kenny’s thoughtlessness and stupidity.
“Goodnight, Mom.”
“Goodnight, honey. Don’t forget to make things right with your friend tomorrow.”
“I will,” I whispered as she rolled down the hallway, then into her room. The door clicked shut, and my shoulders slumped. Suddenly, the weight of the night came crashing down on me with so much force that I almost collapsed to my knees.
I’d had to leave work early.
My car broke down.
Kenny was a mess.
Mom was upset.
I’d have to fix all of those things. It’s what I did. Each task represented time, energy, and money I didn’t have to spare.